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Thursday, December 31, 2015

I don't do resolutions. I figure if I want to change a behavior or adopt a new one that that very day is the perfect time to start. So when I'm asked what my resolutions are, which I always am, I come up blank. But today when I was visiting my mom she came up with a new way of asking generally the same thing. "Do you have any big plans for next year?" Or something like that, anyway. I was super excited to say that I am about to start a year long online art class. There will be fifty-two lessons by a number of amazing artist teachers. Each Monday a new class will be released. I'm so looking forward to sharing my creations.

I continued working on this piece. It was a super busy day and I've got plans this evening so I had to stop before I completely finished. I'm on the cusp of being done.

Happy New Year, everyone! And thank you for joining me on my art journey! More fun and whimsy to come!

I painted another layer of black on the background.

I added some white highlights on her rightside. I also added a halo to the stars. I realizedthat with the addition of the stars on her rightI needed to change which side of her face wasin shadow so I worked on that as well.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

It's finally been cold here. Pretty nice after it being near 80º last week. So what did we decide to do when it was super chilly last night? Go out for ice cream, of course. The guys went traditional, going chocolate and vanilla, but me, I went for the delicious vegan lemon coconut. Mmmmmmm!!! Anyway, while I was sitting there minding my own business whilst downing my ice cream, my little guy went hoodie digging. And since I was layered and since I love hoodies, the kid was in luck. Snip, snap...I was wearing one beanie and three hoods.

Cozy!

I continued working on this painting today.

I painted another layer on her face and neck.

I painted a darker layer.

I added highlights and redrew
all of her features and outlines.

I painted her irises and lips. I used
a bit of the lip color on her cheek.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Animal magnetism...yeah, this girl's got it. And my powers have gotten even stronger with this cold snap. Here's how my night's sleep goes. I wake up covered in critters. Literally covered. Hazel is on my legs, Pug is on my chest, and Tommy is half on and half off of my hip. I can barely move. But I manage to wiggle free and the critters briefly stand, and as soon as I've turned onto my other side...SNAP! My animal magnetism kicks in and they're stuck on top of me again.

It's very annoying...but I love it!

I continue working on this painting.

I used watery yellow to paint over the
background. I'm not sure if it'll stay that way,
likely not. I love layering!

I lay down a layer of skin tone on her face
and neck. I also further defined the lines
of the figure.

I lay down a darker layer on her face and
neck. I also redrew her features and
painted the whites of her eyes.
She's starting to come to life!

Sunday, December 27, 2015

I had a totally different plan for an art project today. Here's what I'd planned on doing. I'd bought a cute canvas bag and I had every intention of going all crazy and painting. After staring at it seemingly endlessly last night I decided that I'd dye it light gray and then paint it with white and black. But this morning as I was stirring it in the dye filled sink I started loving the color it was becoming. This sort of thing happens to me all the time. I fall in love with backgrounds and have the hardest time painting over them. But, hey, a gray handbag...yay! So I'll love it for a while and when it lets me know it's ready for a facelift I'll get right on it.

So for now, I started in on this painting.

I had leftover paint from painting my apron
so I used it to lay down a background.
Waste not want not, after all.

I sketched out the beginnings of a figure.

I decided that I didn't want her to have a raised
arm so I erased it. I also added hair.

I painted a layer of white where her skin is
so that I'll be able to start laying down color.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Yesterday my little guy donned his elf hat again. We hung out with my dad, visited my mom in the hospital, and even made an attempt to eat at a Chinese restaurant. We and everyone else in South Austin. Anyway, I've gotten so accustomed to my little guy wearing his elf outfit that it struck me as unexpected that we were getting looks. One guy even snapped, pointed, and have a double thumbs up.

Me: "He must think I'm cute."

Little guy: "Not likely, mom."

Hey...it could happen.

I picked up an apron for practically nothing a few weeks ago. Since I'm about to start a year long art class I figured an apron would the perfect addition to my supplies. I considered just letting it get paint on it naturally, but what would be the fun in that?!?!

Friday, December 25, 2015

The past month has been filled with large and small gatherings of people I love and adore, wonderful friends and family of all ethnicities, religions, sexual orientation, gender, age. And absolutely none of that is a barrier in any way, shape, or form for how much love I have for them. We are so very much more alike than we are different. All of us.

I finished this painting...when I gaze at it I'm filled with sadness, love, and hope.

"We are More Alike than Different"

I gave her cheeks and lips color and
a light reflection in her eyes.

I used ink to line her eyes and eyebrows
and her pupils. Her sadness and despair
are so clearly worn on her face.

I used graphite to fill in her head covering
to make sure that I definitely wanted to
do that rather than hair. I did.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Yes, I saw the new Star Wars movie this morning with my little guy and two of his buds (They've been best friends for over 12 year now...I love that!). I was doing fine through all the previews and then the "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away..." part started scrolling. Well, that was just the first time I teared up. I have so many fond memories of Star Wars from my childhood and I simply cannot help being a mush. Waiting in long lines to see the movies, mad dashes to purchase newly released action figures, recreating scenes from the movies and making up new ones of our own. I think I'll have to pull the box of action figures out of the closet and give them all a big hug today. Even Darth Vader. After all, he likely needs the biggest hug of all.

I also continued working on this painting. I love when a painting takes over and tells me what direction it wants to take.

I highlighted her forehead, nose, and chin.I also whitened her eyes outside of her irises.

I painted another layer of a darker shade.

I painted the background to define her hair...which made me quite certain that my paintingwants it to be a head covering rather than hair.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Case in point...last night I had a dream that I was in a hotel and the folks staying in the room next to us were very upset because we were making so, so much noise. And for some reason the way their irritation was conveyed is that there were holes in the walls and they'd stick their fingers through them and waggle admonishments our way. Well, I woke up to discover that Dave, our little guy, and two of his friends were watching a movie at super loud volume. I got up, skipped admonishing them, closed our bedroom door, and went right back to sleep. Weirdness....

I finished working on this little painting.

"Beauty"

I gave her a neck and shoulder, and workedon some details of her face.

Monday, December 21, 2015

I recently had a childhood memory revisit the front of my consciousness. One of my family members, who shall remain unnamed, told me, "I'm going to call the police on you."

Well, when I was a kid, perhaps nine or ten years old, I was pulling the cute little twins who lived down the street around in a wagon. I was going up a hill, began turning around to go back down, and the wagon tipped over and spilled the kiddos out. "I'm going to call the police on you!" yelled one of them.

Did I laugh it off? Nope. I ran home, got in our dirty clothes hamper in the hallway, closed the door, and stayed there for many hours. I was not willing to go to jail for my crime.

Luckily I'm getting better about reacting to these words. This time I only briefly considered crawling into our laundry hamper.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

I've got a big forehead...a fivehead is much more accurate. I was at a wonderful party last night and was caught on film a few times. I think I looked fine, don't get me wrong, but I was reminded of the acreage between my eyebrows and my hairline. So this morning, against my better judgment and all of the failures in my past, I trimmed my hair to give myself bangs. Gotta cover up all that area somehow, right? And for the first time ever I think I actually did a pretty good job. Time will tell. And if it turns out buggy, my lovely hair stylist is used to doing repair work on my botched efforts.

I started a new painting as part of a class I'm taking. Just like my previous few blogs, I'm working on skin tones. This will be a woman with dark skin. I'm super excited as I think that's the most lovely skin there is.

I sketched the face.

I erased most of the extra pencil marks.

I started with a yellowish layer and
then some highlights on top of that.

I went over the darker, more shadowed
parts with another layer. There are
many, many layers to come.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

What?!?! The youth of today don't know what that means? I considered referring him to the urban dictionary site, but I'm sooooo glad I checked it before telling him to look there. I nearly had a cow when I read what that site said.

All of this might mean that I'm officially getting old.

I finished this painting. It was a great learning experience. It was originally a much bigger piece of paper, but I trimmed it to 12x9.

"With Wand"

I painted her dress two shades of blue.

I added some purple and darker blue as well.And before the final version I painted her wandand per ponytail holders as well as giving thetop of her dress a lacy effect.

ABOUT ME

My name is Kali Parsons and I absolutely love to create. I paint or sew almost every single day and have been doing so since 2011. I use a wide range of media including acrylic, watercolor, ink, charcoal, collage, and textiles (I love to upcycle unwanted clothing!). I'm inspired by both wonder and challenge and hope to bring joy and provoke deep thought with my work. My original paintings are available on my Daily Paintworks site and prints are available on my Etsy site. I frequently sell my art to fundraise for organizations close to my heart. Please subscribe to my blog if you'd like to receive my blog via email.
- Kali